Untitled Story
by NazoLuk3
Summary: COMPLETE ENDING SPOILERS. READ AT OWN RISK.  He believed that it would happen. Believed that the future would be changed. Can he finally have the chance once again just to change that fate?  "Why? Why did she have to..."
1. Untitled Story

(12/18/11)-(12/22/11)

Untitled (FF13-2 fic)

**-SPOILERS FROM THE ENDING- **

**Note: The following is direct spoilers from the ending. Also note that the information written here might be false or mistranslated.**

* * *

><p>Clouds full of emptiness filled the eternally dark sky. A young man stopped his long journey and sat down on the lifeless plains that seemed to stretch forever. He thought about the events that repeated over and over.<p>

Was everything a lie? Was there a reason to go back in time to save his future? Noel pondered around these types of questions. After all, it is natural to think about these questions, because everyone is dead. He wanted a future where everyone lives, but in the end, the future refused to change. Noel thought a bit more, Why didn't the future change? We fixed all the paradoxes…heh. The future boy laughed to himself. "We…that's a funny word."

After all, Serah died. That moment was captured in his eyes forever. Every time he thinks about it, not a tiny, single, slight detail was left behind.

**0-0-0**

At that time, Noel, Serah and their trusty monster defeated Caius. As Caius begins to fade away, multiple objects appeared in the land known as Valhalla. Those objects were Time Gates, and all the gates that they have travelled to. One particular gate appeared; shown in the "fragments" was Academy Director, Hope Esthiem.

Hope Esthiem has decided, "Cocoon cannot be held up by Vanille and Fang forever. It's time for them to rest, right? I'm sorry guys." With a push of a button, the crystallized planet collapsed as well as fading away from existence. All types of crystals that broke apart began to fade away as well, making it seem that Cocoon _never_ existed. That also meant the previous l'Cie.

In its place was the Academy's finished project: Neo-Cocoon. Suddenly, the artificial planet floated from the nest and escaped the chains binding it down. The new world was filled with endless cities and tiny lights through the warm, blazing sunlight. "This is the new Cocoon," Esthiem simply added. "This is the new world—now named 'Buniberzei.'"

Meanwhile, Noel and Serah escaped Valhalla via the Time Gate and, coincidentally, appeared below the planet Buniberzei. Fortunately, an airship caught the two and looked upon Academia, the new capital city. "Now that everyone's here," Serah stated, "Let's go home. Ah!" They turned around, seeing the Time Gate's door is closing, feeling that the presence of the door is disappearing. Serah looked down for a minute.

Her eyes shown gratitude, but also of worry. She looked back up and turned to Noel in a soft whisper, "Hey, Noel."

"Hm?" The girl hesitated for a moment, and finally decided to speak.

"Thank you…" Her voice suddenly got softer and had sudden, short gasps of air. Noel noticed this pattern quite quickly asking, "Serah?" Then it hit him. Serah had those visions again. No, no, no! He thought. Quick as the wind, he exclaimed, "You can't be—!"

The time was too late. Serah's eyes abruptly changed from her clear blue eyes into a kind of symbol. The symbol is of goldish color with ovals inside each other without an end. Noel swiftly held onto her shoulders and shook her repeatedly, yelling, "No, don't look! Serah!" The golden eyes returned back to normal, but Serah fell backwards. By instinct, Noel grabbed her hand and pulled her back, instantly hugging the girl. "Serah!" He asked. No response. The girl slowly closed her eyes and the body was weightless. She was like a puppet without its strings to even stand up anymore, Noel watching every step. "Kupo…?" Mog quietly asked. Why? Why did she have to die? Noel's thoughts were filled with mixed feelings of this sudden event. Did she see something important to the future? Is it because she's a paradox? All of these thoughts can only make him insane, screaming to whoever's in the heavens to hear: "SERAAAAAAAH—!"

However, no one listened. There was only one true fact about this: Serah Farron was gone.

**0-0-0**

Hope Esthiem also discovered her death, Mog following the girl's fate as well; the companion lost a great amount of strength. Eventually, the whole world fell apart, leaving everything in destruction. The new planet disintegrated by the Chaos substance followed by the sounds of bells and screaming of citizens. Golden ribbons of Etro script ravaged around and that's when both Noel and Hope noticed: the visible world and invisible worlds are merging. Noel decided to go to Etro's shrine where Lightning was, while Hope tries to find survivors.

The whole event transitions back to now, where the young man continues to think in the grass.

Serah knew she was going to die. She knew that she was walking each step to death when she sees through time. Yet, why must she go to such lengths? It's no use, Noel thought. I can't think of an answer. Pushing aside grief and anger, Noel continues onward to the merged land of Valhalla, hoping to find some answers. Lightning was still there, Noel simply thought. I know everything in this cursed world.

Why was he still moving on? Why does he want a future with everyone with it?

Why does he want Serah back?

The young man couldn't think of an answer. He wasn't taught about answering rhetorical questions; he doesn't have to.

Time loop. A state of dizziness struck Noel as he walks closer to the debris-filled shrine. He was already used to that. Contradictions. Are they truly contradictions to the timeline? Noel tried to ignore everything and looked at the top of the destroyed land. There she is. Time paradox. He had all of eternity to fix the unknown paradox. All his questions shall be answered soon.

Climbing each piece of rock and metal, the young man pondered immensely around the chaos-filled world. Wait, Noel stopped. Chaos. His blood-covered, bleeding hands held tightly on a random mass of debris. "The Chaos started it all," Noel remarked. "The Chaos was not balanced in the two worlds." A sudden memory from all the experience of time appeared in his head. He quickly climbed up with haste, ignoring the pain he faced. He was almost there.

He had hope again, from this eternal timeline. In the "past," or rather the "present," Noel walked from the lifeless world to find a way to go to the past to fix what was wrong.

But now, there was hope. He would go back in time, and stop the continuous loop. However, the man didn't know how; but he can find out during the way. The only objective is to prevent the Chaos from overflowing in addition to protect Serah this time. With a slight sense of confidence, Noel marched onward to the top.

**0-0-0**

At last, from the hours of traveling, the young man has reached the top. There she is.

Beyond Noel's eyes was Lightning. She was sitting with her legs crossed, holding her new-and-improved Blazefire Saber—but she was stone. Her beautiful face stayed the same for as long as Noel knows. "You look the same," he commented.

"And you look the same too," the man imagined if the warrior can speak. "Only you feel different; like the way you think."

"I guess so," he replied, while bowing down. He felt insane. "Jokes aside, I would like another chance to go back in time."

"Noel, let me ask you a question," his imaginary "Lightning" continued. "How long have you been suffering from the past loops?"

"I don't know. Long enough to not even care anymore. Lightning, I hope you're listening; not the imaginary voice. In all those 'times' I was stuck in, I realized something. No matter what I do, Serah dies, and so on and so forth. Everything happens all over again once I talk to you."

Noel paused a bit. He resumed, "But then—I realized—that the one responsible was the Chaos, right? I have to balance it, but how?"

No response. Yeah, a piece of rock won't talk, Noel concluded. Back to the surviving Time Gate…—

Noel felt a pat on the back. "My insanity got me again…" he sighed.

_No…I actually patted you…What are you…talking about…?_ The voice has short, staccato spaces between words. And the voice sounds familiar: Lightning. The man turned around. It was faint as a fog, but Lightning was there, holding him on the shoulder. That meant that the warrior can communicate, just like when one is crystallized. Her simple, sweet smile responded to her words.

"Lightning, how can I stop massive amounts of Chaos from spreading? I need to balance it to save Serah."

The warrior slowly took steps and answered. _Chaos is released…when someone…dies. You...must...prevent everyone's deaths...all at once..._

"But no such thing happened at the previous loops."

_Caius...is an exception; his..."heart" held too much Chaos...because of his...love…_"Ghost" Lightning raised her hand and seemed to direct some kind of force to Noel's head. A spell of dizziness struck him, and rushing memories of every other time had ached Noel's head. The memories that he would be looking for was with their—he and Serah's—"last" battle with Caius. Noel memorized all of his mentor's final words before committing suicide, yet why hadn't he notice until now?

"Etro plays dirty tricks," his mentor would say. "Who knows what will happen to my 'heart?'"

Caius needs to survive. This would stop Etro's tricks. _Noel, you must go...back in time...again to stop his...death. That will...break the loop..._ the ghost continued. _Serah..._

"Don't worry," Noel assured. "I'll do whatever it takes to get her back." He jabbed his thumb to himself, grinning.

Lightning smirked. _This...is my first time...communicating like...this._

Noel nodded.

_So, there might be...a chance where I...might not come...again. I'll give...you my last...strength…_ With the words in mind, she was indeed fading away. With the last of her strength, she closed her eyes and concentrated, as if she was sleeping in a calm state. Every ounce of power in her transparent body disappeared, transferring to the young man. The young man felt stronger, but not just that; a sense of a new, different kind of knowledge entered inside him.

Lightning begins to fade away, adding, _Unlike other loops...your memories..._ Noel reached for her, but couldn't make it. She was unable to be touched. She dispersed into particles, stating her last words: _...won't be...erased..._

"No, Lightning!" His raised hands that were chasing the mature woman stopped. "...I knew that you'd be with me." There was something that proved her existence.

It was a rose pedal. The gleaming crystal continues to shine dark red, with a tint of pink reflected though the leftover light. Noel picked up the surprisingly light object and kept it in his pocket, marking it off as a key item.

Next, he walked towards to the platform that was hanging over near the petrified Lightning. The Time Gate is right here, Noel thought. This will be my last time travel—everyone is counting on me—Lightning, Hope Esthiem, and...Serah. He dragged his tired body to the last surviving Time Gate. The object is ripped apart from its roots, the seal has been cracked, and its illuminating light is dulling out.

Each time gate needs an artefact—whether a specific one or a wild one—but Noel didn't have anything. "The only thing in my hands is just the rose—" he cut off, realizing the crystal's purpose. "Thanks," he whispered. Soon after, he held onto the gate, while the other hand held on the rose pedal, hoping the gate would realize the tool.

The Time Gate recognized said item. In a flash, a beam shot at the time traveler, making him gone in sight. The beam quickly shot in a vertical line, perpendicular to the ground. The time travel was successful.

Meanwhile, Noel was soaring through the time crossways—the Historia Crux. An infinite amount of rotating, mechanical rings surrounded him. He has to go to the farthest end of the Historia Crux, which was the unknown time of Valhalla. After that, he has to return to the year 3AF (After Fall) and meet _her_ again. And after that... he thought. I don't know. I'll think about it as I go on.

Noel slowly descends from the ring of the Historia Crux, back to Valhalla.

**0-0-0**

Thousands of miles have passed. In Noel's time in the Historia Crux, his boredom reached quickly. In all his counting to pass the time, around eighteen thousand, three hundred forty-three rings were present.

Finally, his destination was reached. Upon arrival, an intense amount of heat and bright light intruded Noel's eyes. He immediately closed his eyes. Once the light faded away, he opened his eyes, surprised.

"Noel Kreiss." It was Lightning. She was flesh, responding strong as ever. No, he refused. This is not the same "Lightning" I know.

This Lightning was riding on Bahamut in Gestalt Mode, chasing the young man falling from the skies. I remember, he thought. Just like where I fell before. "Hold my hand!" Lightning yelled. Noel immediately focused and luckily grabbed her hand. The surroundings around him looks exactly the same as he remembered. He accidently spoke his thoughts, saying, "This is..."

"Valhalla," Lightning answered.

That's right, Noel thought. Valhalla. Don't worry; I'll protect her this time.

I know, Lightning thought. Remember, Valhalla is a place where time doesn't exist. I can see what you do in every timeline. I count on you, like the "me" that spoke to you beforehand.

…Good luck.

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><p>Hello, I'm back! I guess you don't know me…<p>

Anyways, thanks for reading this (especially those who spoiled themselves and myself).

This is my first for some kind of angst, mystery-ish fic, so bare with me. Should I continue his story? Or leave as a one-shot? Also, please help me in some mistakes I make; I'm not that perfect at everything.

Note that I'll probably upload more fics (check profile) since I am terribly in love of a game that didn't come yet in America's side. Yay spoilers for everyone!

(please help with title, or I'll just leave as is)

-NazoLuk3


	2. Untitled Story II: Ch 1

(12/24/11)-(12/25/11)

Untitled Story (FF13-2 fic)

Chapter 2

**-SPOILERS FROM THE GAME- **

**Note: The following information might be false of mistranslated.**

* * *

><p>"You asked for a miracle, and you arrived here. Am I wrong?" The warrior goddess asked. She was riding on top of Bahamut, along with a man in toll known as Noel Kriess.<p>

"How did you know that?" Noel asked in a surprised state.

"From Valhalla, you can see everything." Whoops. I forgot, Noel thought.

"You must have known who I am," Lightning continued. He nodded. Bahamut took a hard turn to the left, creating a U-turn. Chaos Bahamut form followed in the same direction. The two Bahamuts were chasing each other mouse-and-cat style.

"This would be the climax, right?" Lightning carefully stood up on Bahamut, shooting lasers of elemental lightning to its Chaos counterpart. Noel turned back, hoping to defend himself.

The counterpart returned fire with straight, light purple objects, following the two. By instinct, Bahamut did a series of barrel roles, dodging different kinds of firepower—from fire to variations of the ruin spell. Lightning quickly uses Ullr's shield, regenerating her health and having a new enhancement: Haste.

Continuing the intense fight, Chaos Bahamut suddenly changed its battle pattern. It went back to its original form and quickly charged up the power of Umbral Vise.

Noel quickly took note of this and notified, "Not good!" In an instant, the original Bahamut dodged right in time.

Worried, Noel asked, "Are we gonna counterattack?"

"That's next on the list," Lightning replied. The counterpart went back to Gestalt Mode and continued the battle with explosions of magic. Lightning used multiple elements of ruinga, slowing down Chaos Bahamut's tracks. It returned with Inferno, which fired mini meteorites worth of damage. She used Ullr's Shield once again, healing her health and recharging her Haste buff. The battle dragged on, up until the point where Chaos Bahamut stopped and left the field.

Afterwards, Lightning and Noel safely jumped out of Bahamut on a ledge of Valhalla's tallest structures. As Lightning jumped off back-flipped style, Noel, on the other hand, miscalculated his jump and slightly scrapped the floor. In a kneeling position, Lightning dispersed her upgraded gunblade and watched her surroundings while Noel swiped dust of his pants.

"What are we going to do?" he asked.

"I don't need your hand," Lightning replied. "In exchange, I have something to ask of you."

"Guide Serah…right?" I know what you want me to do, he thought.

"Right. Then that means you know what I'm going to give you." Lightning gathered magic in her hand and threw it in the air, with a slight explosion like fireworks. Different colors of pink, yellow, orange and white were mixing together until the light coalesces into a familiar figure of a moogle.

"Kupopo!" the moogle chirped. Noel smiled, having a warm feeling that his moogle companion is back.

The creature observed Noel for a bit, and chirped "kupo" again, transforming into a weapon. Serah's bow. The weapon fell down onto his hands, which was surprisingly light. "Give this to Serah," Lightning continued.

"Roger," Noel hung the bow onto his shoulder. However, a premonition struck Noel. Wait, he thought. At this moment, there would be—

A sudden burst of shaking hit the ground. A voice appeared out of nowhere stating:

"Have you finished your little chat?"

Locating the source of the voice, there was purple smoke emitting from above. Once the smoke faded away, there stood a familiar man.

"Caius!" he spat. In an instant, Caius released a summon circle but Lightning jumped in between the two, yelling, "Cross through time!"

"Alright!" Noel answered. Caius jumped from the higher ledge and transformed into the Gestalt Form of Chaos Bahamut yet again. At the same time, Noel jumped out of the ledge, remembering where the Time Gate is.

Caius' summoning circle brought in a devastating object: a meteor.

"Like I'd let you…!" Lightning brought her crystal in a shape of a rose and throwing it in the air, cutting it to summon her Eidolon Odin. "Odin! Do that." she yelled with hope, grabbing her partner's arm. Odin swiftly threw Lightning as far as possible heading straight-on to the meteor.

Blocking this humongous object with shield-in-hand, she screamed, only thinking of doing this for _her_. Her strength can only hold so much, that the buildings around her were crashing into pieces. Serah… was the only thing she thought of.

Noel, still in part of Valhalla, noticed that everything is collapsing. Lightning… he thought as every single piece of debris fell. Thinking that there was no more time left, he ran off of the roof, skydiving to the Time Gate, including some debris falling.

Yelling to the Time Gate, another meteor was summoned, following Noel to the gate. At that moment, everything stopped, as if time forced itself to. Noel heard her faint voice once again during another travel to the Historia Crux.

_I'm counting on you, Noel Kreiss. Become an arrow that passes through time: fly to where Serah is. I can't... protect her any longer_...

**0-0-0**

He was drifting again. How many times did he travel in the roads of the Historia Crux? It was certainly not his first nor last. Or was it, chronologically? Time travel was quite complicated, he thought.

He didn't know if he was moving forward or backwards. All he knew was that he was falling somewhere where Serah is. New Bodhum, the third After Fall year, he remembered correctly.

That reminds him. On his "first" time traveling, he thought of Serah nothing but a sister to a person he just met. Without noticing, he would slowly open up to her, thinking of helping and protecting her at whatever it costs.

Even his life.

But it was her life that was taken. Her powers to have "visions" developed too much; up to the point where an unknown future was not told, and died. What did she see? Noel deeply hoped that the future would be the one that he will recreate soon.

A few more hours have passed in the Historia Crux. A small part of the meteor continued to follow the trail. It doesn't matter, Noel thought. I'll just have to fight alongside her again. But…

"What if I didn't meet her?" he asked out loud. "What if...I didn't travel here to the first place?"

If that were the case, he reflected, then she wouldn't have to be in this adventure—to be involved in it. She would have a normal life, staying in her new home, awaiting her husband-to-be Snow. No death. No pain. Just living life to the fullest.

But they met.

That fate is inevitable—not even the powers of time travel can. Attractor Field Convergence Theory—it was called. Any timeline can be changed, but events such like these will only have slight differences, but the same concept. For example, instead of meeting out of a dangerous situation, Noel can just fall out of the sky saying, "Hi, I'm Noel. I come from the future. Your sister gave me this bow-moogle-sword thing. Come with me in time traveling to find your sister, and I'm actually holding a secret from you."

However, another idea struck Noel like those artificial lights. What if Serah's death is also based on that theory? It would be _nearly_ impossible to save her at this point. On the positive side, the other probability left over was the method of stopping this fate.

Move world lines. As the theory states, no matter what happens, an unavoidable event will still be there. If there is a great change in the timeline, world lines can be changed, including new events occurring to the timeline. But what was that change?

He pondered about the great change. There were countless numbers of events that _might_ stay true to the theory.

In each second, light from the other side of the Historia Crux extends, forcing Noel to block his arm on his face.

It's time.

The light slowly faded away, allowing him to open his eyes. It was dark in this new world. Nighttime. The only lights that can be seen is the few artificial lights and a crystallized Cocoon illuminating the whole scene.

But beyond his sight was a war. He was in a middle of a war between people and the mysterious creatures.

But where was she? She should be here at this moment, he thought.

Pause. Cease. Rewind.

**0-0-0**

She had a dreadful dream. Her dream had her sister in shiny armor, battling against an unknown man. She woke up, still half asleep. "…Sis…?" she asked. "She was fighting…was it a dream…?"

Strange symbols of black ribbon and glittering light surrounded her. White light bathed her completely, and she felt odd. "That's strange…" she trailed off. She felt as if something around her changed physically.

All at once, a colossal rumble of explosion impacted the ground, leaving the girl in a surprised state. "What? What was going on?" she panicked. She looked down.

Her clothes changed. She asked, "What... what are these clothes? What's happening?"

She wandered through the next room, noticing that everyone in gone. Her furniture was lying on the floor, and she heard constant yelling outside.

Live Trigger. She quickly thought to herself, asking, A dream of a strange world, and clothing I've never seen before. What on earth is happening?

She factored out the questions she had in mind: Was it a dream of the future? Am I still dreaming? Was it a message from Lightning? Did someone just appear?

She ignored the other questions except the one from Lightning. "My sister…is gone. So what was that dream I just had? A message from the world of the dead? No, that's too horrible. Lightning... Are these clothes from the world of the dead as well?"

She slowly walked over and jumped over the pieces of broken furniture. After another jump, she walked outside, seeing the actions that unfolded.

An abrupt explosion of light frightened the girl, blinded and unable to know what is happening. She opened her eyes. Her village is gone.

Distorted air filled the unknown wasteland. Live Trigger. She once again thought of her questions.

The village I was living in has changed to a completely different place all around, she thought about. Wherever could this be?

Perhaps all my memories up until know were false? Is this the future world? Is this the world of the dead?

"It must be the world of the dead," she guessed. She continues to walk in the fuzzy space, feeling somewhat dizzy. "There's not a single living thing…Did I die? If so, maybe I can see Lightning again."

Her heart was beating stronger at every second. She can't take it anymore. She fell on her knees and began to weep. Another blast of light hit her, finding that she was standing outside of her beloved village. But something was wrong.

Stop.

Around her was a silent, still land. It was as if she was inside of a paused movie, except she was the only one moving. A colorless world but her.

She witnessed her friends from NORA paused from fighting the bug-like creatures while normal citizens frozen from running away. Her head had a sudden pain, noticing something from her left eye. Her blue eye's pupil is no longer the round, black component for sight. It was now a bright golden symbol over it. Once the girl blinked, the symbol was gone and time went onwards.

Relapse. Resume.

**0-0-0**

In the storm of confusion, Noel still can't find her. Everyone was fending themselves from the mysterious creatures.

Pause. Cease. Rewind. Relapse. Resume.

In a blink of an eye, there she was: the girl he'd been longing for in what seemed to be eternity.

Serah Farron.

She's alive, he thought. She's right here, right now. I remember that face from before.

"Everyone…!" she yelled.

"Serah, run away!" Gadot replied.

"Everyone, quickly, this way!" other members of this group evacuated civilians, but it was too late.

"What is _that_?" someone hollered. A portal shot out of nowhere, revealing a monster that look similar to a Ghoul Cie'th.

No time for reminiscence, he snapped. I have to help. She was at the brink of getting hurt, exclaiming, "Lightning, help me!"

Noel quickly ran off the ledge, yelling, "You want her? Then you'll have to go through me!" He jumped over to where Serah was and slashed the insect that disintegrated into pieces.

Time change. A person called Lebreau is supposed to save the damsel in distress. But not this time. He was desperate to change the timeline.

He needs to change world lines.

Picking Serah up, he smiles. "Stand up, Serah."

"I saw you, in my dreams…" she replied.

"I'll explain later." Noel lifted the bow and offered it. "You can fight, can't you?"

"Huh?" Serah held onto the bow and nodded, confirming a "yes."

"If you can do it, do it!" He took out his flame-patterned sword, pulling out the yellow blade from the other.

The flamed blade extended and he prepared his battle stance. "Promise me…you're never going to give up on living!"

* * *

><p>Hello, I am back. What do you think of this chapter? It feels too long! I didn't edit much, so help in mistakes or things that make no sense!<p>

This can be considered as a "continuation" to the first chapter because it was originally a one-shot; you don't have to read it. I tried my best to make a smooth transition from the end of Chapter 1 to the beginning of Chapter 2. Ugh, I suck at writing action scenes :(

By the way, the NoelxSerah is unintentional, but okay :3

Signing out,

-NazoLuk3


	3. Untitled Story II: Ch 2

(12/26/11)-(12/29/11)

Untitled Story (FF13-2 fic)

Chapter 3

**-SPOILERS FROM THE GAME-**

**Note: The following information might be wrong or mistranslated.**

* * *

><p>Transition. Two mysterious insects—one immense version, one mini-sized version.<p>

Her first battle. But she felt different, as if lukewarm water covered her whole body once she held onto the bow. She's inexperienced, so why does she feel stronger?

The first blow came from the lesser-sized insect: four points. Serah didn't know what to do—her body moved on her own. She waited for three seconds, and shot something out of her hand. Ruin.

"Wha…" she looked at her hand, confirming that magic actually came out of her. The ruin hit the smaller insect, following with two arrows she shot out. The creature faded into pieces.

How did I know to use a bow? she asked herself. It's like…I'm in some kind of "Auto-Battle" mode.

Noel did the same: threw one ruin at the larger insect and ran up with two attack slices. He didn't know how he got _real_ magic in the first place, but just ignored it. He also noted that all his fighting experience also disappeared from his first time travel; possibly from a side effect from Valhalla. No one knows, though.

Now, the two began to team-up against the last enemy. The insect fired more ruin, but after a few more seconds of charging magic, the two counterattacked with ruin. The short battle felt turn-based: the monster would fire ruin, and Serah and Noel would fire back the same magic. Finally, the battle ended.

A so-so battle, Noel decided. I guess I can rank it as 3-stars?

Afterwards, the man decided to help the other people who are fighting these monsters. "Wait!" Serah yelled, chasing him. At last, Serah reached the young man only to realize that a monster is nearby.

Battle sequence.

Cocoon's warm colors of blue made Pulse a wonderful night every time. Of course, not in a battle. Three battle insects, including a mini-sized one are ready for battle. Serah and Noel were in their battle stance ready to fight.

A light bulb flickered in the man's head. "I almost forgot," he mentioned. "Serah, do you know how to use the Paradigm Shift System?"

"What? No," she replied.

"It's quite simple," he answered. "Paradigms are your roles. Try switching into a Ravager—think of using magic."

Serah thought firmly about magic. As soon as she thought about it, three blue rings circled around her, feeling elements around her body.

Paradigm Shift: Slash and Burn. Noel and Serah.

As the rings disappeared, the two attacked after three seconds charging. Noel fought with three consecutive attacks, while Serah distanced away, shooting magical fire.

Stagger.

One of the larger insects became weaker, causing to slow down in attack time. "Serah, back to Commando!" Noel commanded. "You know, the one with ruin!"

She quickly thought of physical attacks, changing paradigms again.

Paradigm Shift: Double Trouble.

The Commandos took down one enemy. She thought quickly during her attacks. Back to Slash and Burn. They repeated the same process on the other monsters and prevailed.

That also meant doing the same steps on the other monsters on the peaceful, sandy beach. Serah couldn't understand what was happening at the moment. She's obediently listening and following a man that she doesn't even know!

…But she didn't care. She had a peculiar feeling with this man. Eventually wiping out the monsters of the beach, everything was left quiet. Serah stared at the scenery filled with ashes and injured people.

Why did this happen? she asked in thought. Without realizing, she whimpered, thinking everything that happened was unfair.

"Serah!" the voice came from Maqui, a member of NORA. "Are you alright?"

"Y-yeah…" she responded. She thought, He didn't realize my outfit?

Soon after, another voice appeared. "Maqui!" This time it was Yuj, also part of the group. Maqui, realizing what to do next, grins at Serah and follows Yuj. It appears that the ones who are armored are tasked to investigate the meteor that fell. Lebreau also participated in helping.

Wait. Memory fragment. Noel knew that this was not supposed to happen. Lebreau is supposed to save Serah _first_, not him. If she were to save Serah first, then she would have been wounded by another insect. But since he stepped in, Lebreau didn't get injured and continued to help others.

In due course, Serah spoke to Noel, bursting his train of thoughts. "Thank you for saving me. Um…you are…"

"Noel. Noel Kreiss," he finished. He pointed to himself. He also thought, Jeez, how many times will I have to introduce myself? Well, I have no choice.

"…That's it?"

"Yeah, that it. Anyways, what about him?" He pointed at the bow. The bow cued by suddenly sparkled, allowing Serah to let go of it. The bow floated, spinning with clouds around it, until it finally transformed into a well-known figure. A moogle.

"Kupooo~!" the moogle squeaked, flying around her. Serah was in an unexpected state.

"A…moogle doll?" she asked. The moogle shook its head.

"It'll keep you safe," Noel assured. "It's from your sister."

"You know my sister?" Serah swiftly grabbed the moogle and ran up to Noel.

"Yeah. I came here 'cause Lightning told me too." And…because of my own will, he spoke in his mind. The moogle continues to try to shake of the girl's arms.

"Where? Where did you meet my sister?" Serah forced out. She thought deeply on where the man met her sister. "It wasn't…Valhalla, was it?"

Huh? She asked herself. How did I know about the name of the place?

Noel already knew her answer. Thanks to the "Lightning" that was petrified, he didn't loose any of his memories as with the past loops. In every loop, he'd have tiny pieces of memories, but now, he knows what will exactly happen.

He's changing the outcome of the current dialogue.

"Yeah, I've seen her in Valhalla," he replied. "You also saw me and her…in a dream, right?"

"How do you know?" she asked, let going of the moogle.

Dialogue changed. The original dialogue didn't end like this. Noel remembered what was supposed to happen. He dug out of his memories to see the difference.

"_Where? Where did you meet my sister?" Serah forced out. She thought deeply on where the man met her sister. "It wasn't…Valhalla, was it?"_

_ "Huh? You know about that?" Noel reacted. _

_ "I saw it in a dream. My sister gave you the moogle, and then you…" she left the moogle out of her arms._

_ "I got sucked through this place."_

Back to reality.

He didn't want to answer Serah's question. Not just yet. Not even one insane person would suddenly come from the future declaring that "he's here to have a better future and to prevent your death." He has to develop things slowly.

"…Let's just leave that unanswered," Noel recommended. "Let's say that the meteor brought me here."

After the conversation, Serah doesn't have any doubts about this man known as Noel Kreiss. The man wanders off, grinning, leaving Serah in the dust. She followed his continuous tracks.

That also reminds me, she thought. I still don't know anything about Noel other than his name.

"Noel, with just your name, I don't know anything else about you." She took action as she continued to follow. "What kind of person are you?"

"A hunter," he vaguely answered.

"That's it? Would you like to tell more?"

"Sure."

She jumped over the wire fence after she spoke with the townspeople. Meeting Noel there, he asked a question to her. "Am I…suspicious?"

Live Trigger.

Serah quietly thought to herself. The strange young man, Noel, says that he met Lightning in Valhalla. Let's try getting to know him better.

She thought over what kind of questions to ask. Did you really meet my sister? What's Valhalla? A hunter…is that your job? Where are you from, Noel?

She has decided. "Did you really meet my sister? What does she look like?"

Noel thought about the tiniest detail Lightning had. "When I came to, I saw her in white, shiny armor. When she caught me, she seemed like a goddess."

"Ah!" she said in a surprised manner. "The same as my dream…You actually met her."

She talked more to him. There were various answers from the man, such as, "…Sorry I'm rubbish at introducing myself," or "I'm not hiding anything from you," or "Are you satisfied with my answers?"

**0-0-0**

The two ventured off to check on the crystallized meteor, even if everyone said it was dangerous. They walked to the wooden bridge that leads to the rocky islands. While walking, the moogle stopped. "Kupo kupo!" it squeaked.

"What's wrong?" Serah asked.

"That's wrong." Noel pointed his finger to the monster that appeared out of thin air. "I call it the 'Mog Clock.' If you want to rapidly dispose the enemy, hit it before Mog's clock's minute hand hits the six!"

"Right!" Serah grabbed Mog—the moogle's name that she learned just now—and he became the sword. With a slash—

— Battle commence. Green: Preemptive strike. Buff: Haste.

The two were fighting against a Pulse worker. With the paradigm Slash and Burn, they staggered the machine and hastily won the battle. Noel himself thought that was a 5-star battle.

Carrying on, the two walked across on a rocky island, only to see pulchritudinous — or rather beautiful scenery of translucent, lively different shades of light blue to dark blue.

It was truly a sight to see.

I don't know how many times I've traveled back to the past without memories, Noel thought. But this is still amazing; no matter how many times I see this. He was happy he can see this with her.

"Ahhhhh…" he sighed out loudly.

"Is something the matter?" Serah noticed.

"No, I'm just a bit emotional. Cocoon's so pretty...if it's in the past or future."

He changed the dialogue again. In the "first" loop, it was easily noted that his speech sounded like his first time seeing the frozen planet.

Flashback.

"_Ahhhhh…" he sighed out loudly._

_ "Is something the matter?" Serah noticed._

_ "No, I'm just a bit emotional. Cocoon's so pretty...it's just like in the legends. I guess I'm really here…"_

Back to reality.

Serah gazed at the young man. Live Trigger.

She thought for a second. Noel's in a daze as though this is his first time seeing Cocoon. What should I say to him?

She thought of answers. My sister's over there. Haven't you seen Cocoon often before? You seem a little uneasy. What do you mean by "just like in the legends?"

She decided on what to say. "Haven't you seen Cocoon often before?"

"Yeah. You can say it's chronologically my first time seeing this. But technically I probably saw it a few hundred times or so."

What? Serah thought about that statement. That doesn't make sense. It _can't_ make sense. If this can be thought that he saw this for a few times, how can this be his first time? Noel is really a mysterious person…like a paradox.

Noel meant what he said. The man probably saw this hundreds of times due to the time loop. He can't really tell, though. Since he came back in time _again_, this is his "first" time seeing Cocoon in the timeline.

**0-0-0**

While walking and jumping on more stone islands, a person came out of the blue and met Noel and Serah. It was Gadot, part of NORA.

"Serah, you're all right!" he exclaimed. "Seems that the monsters are coming from the area that the meteor landed in. Hey, who's that guy?"

She presented the man to him. "This is Noel. He saved me when I was in a pinch earlier."

Gadot wanders closer to Noel, inspecting him. He introduced himself, while Noel retorted, "Hm? You think I'm suspicious, huh? It's not like I'm going to steal your food."

The powered man gawked at his presence, adding to Serah, "…Careful, Serah. If something happens to you, boss is gonna kill me."

Noel knew that would happen. This man won't trust me, he thought. Just like last time.

Live Trigger.

The boss is Snow. That means two options are out from the "last" loop. There are only two options left to say: You're pretty impressive, and—

—I'll protect Serah. Protect.

…Wait.

For Noel, his world has stopped. Yeah, he keeps saying protect, protect. But he's not doing it. His heart agrees, but his mind differs.

"_I'm protecting her!" his heart declared. _

_ "No, you're not," his mind calmly replied. "You just think you are, but in the end, she'll die!"_

_ "Isn't that why I came back?"_

_ "Yeah, but you know it—the theory. No matter what you do, she'll die. It's ironic," his mind scoffed. "You tell Snow about hurting the ones he love, but you're doing the same; if this 'Serah' knows it or not."_

_His heart glared at his mind. "It doesn't matter which 'Serah' it is. I don't know why, but my soul cares deeply for her. If you give up on hope, I won't."  
><em>

Noel still cannot end his inner conflicts.

Take control. Take command.

Time resumes.

He has decided on what to say to Gadot.

"...I'll protect Serah."

* * *

><p>Welcome back! I just want to say that I want to make this story as simple as possible, so ask anything that sounds confusing. Please help with editing; I just wrote all chapters without planning or editing.<p>

Also, I didn't completely spoil the entire plot, so this story might be on hiatus soon; just wait when it comes out my mail and I'll continue!

Did anyone notice any game mechanics in this and the previous chapters? You know, Live Trigger, Mog Clock, Paradigms, etc. It was sort of hard to do, especially with the ATBs (3 seconds=3ATBs). The actions and stuff came as reference of hsypersakura2009's gameplay, while the translations are from myself and xi-feng's livejournal.

I think I'm getting worse as each chapter is typed;;

-NazoLuk3 :3


	4. Untitled Story II: Ch 3

12/31/11-1/19/12

Untitled Story (FF13-2 fic)

**Chapter 4**

**-SPOILERS FROM THE GAME-**

**Note: The following might be wrong or mistranslated.**

* * *

><p>"Yeah, right!" Gadot laughed. "Only boss can, unless you can prove it!"<p>

Figures, Noel thought. The muscled man leaves to carry on the expedition to find out more about the meteor.

Walking along, Noel and Serah encountered more monsters, earning more experience to battle. As each step gets closer to the meteor, there has a sudden haze on the air.

It's not fog, Serah thought. The place looks distorted, and it looks exactly like that land I've been to recently…

"Hey Noel," she spoke. "I think I'm dreaming again because of this haze."

"No," he replied. "I see it too; this is reality." Everything was confusing with the haze around them. After a few jumps off the rocks, the distortion mysteriously disappeared. Additionally, the two met Yuj who was scouting the area.

Serah ran up to Yuj, exclaiming his name. The blue haired man waved back. "Oh, is that the Noel guy I've been hearing about?"

Noel overheard the situation and replied, "I am that famous?"

"Yeah, since you saved Serah and all. Thanks; I'm Yuj." Noel nodded and shook hands. Though I 'sort of' saved Lebreau in a way, he thought. She could've gotten hurt as from the other loops.

"But Serah," Yuj cut off and looked at her. "What are you doing dressed as that? You don't normally go out nearly so well-dressed."

Well-dressed? She thought. I doubt this is well-dressed as I feel…different.

Live Trigger.

Yuj wants to know why I'm wearing such nice clothes, she thought. How should I respond?

Do you want to wear them too, Yuj? These clothes fell out of the sky. I just noticed I was wearing them all of a sudden. What about your own clothes, Yuj?

"Um…when I woke up, I had these clothes on," she answered.

"Ah, I know! You must have been half asleep at that time." Yuj looked around. "Oh no. Well, I have to go now." With that, the blue haired man left.

Up ahead, Serah stumbled to a corner of an island. There was the last member of NORA, Maqui. Trees were growing uncontrollably around, and more haziness surrounded the corner. Noel can hear the younger's soft mumbling voice, saying, "Yeah…there are only young trees around here. Perhaps the space here isn't too stable? This is really bad!"

"It might be because of the meteor?" Noel responded.

Maqui reacted and turned around to see a familiar pink-haired friend and a brunette lad. He hysterically called out, "That's right! It's strange! Ever since that meteor fell, the village was having difficulties!"

"Maqui, do you know what's going on?" Serah asked.

"Not the least," he replied, scratching his head. "It's like hundreds of years have passed in some places, while in other's didn't change at all."

Noel tried to explain the situation. "This thing's from a place where time moves differently than in this world. This world and that one is all mixed up. Two time streams are layered on top of one another...that's how it feels to me, anyway."

Hold. That means that the meteor is from a different land known as Valhalla, he thought. Valhalla is a land with no time. When the meteor stroke, a part of that land and New Bodhum's time got mixed up. This is why the events in both times fused in the village, he concluded in his mind. That should simplify my answer.

Maqui snapped his finger. "That's exactly it!"

During the commotion, Serah took her thinking cap on. She hung her hand over her chin and thought.

Live Trigger.

She thought, It seems due to the influence of the meteor, time here has gotten mixed up with time from another world. Let's ask Maqui what he thinks.

She thought of various questions. Where do moogles come from? Where does magic come from? Where did the meteor come from? You haven't got a clue, Maqui!

Well, two questions here make no sense, she figured. I don't want to talk about that last one. I'll ask about the meteor.

"Where did the meteor come from?"

"Well, he said the case came from a different world, right?" Maqui replied.

Noel joined the conversation. "It fell from Valhalla. Let's go, Serah. If we check it, we might be able to find something about it."

Advancing in each path, the invisible fog faded away. They are getting closer to Cocoon. Serah met Noel again, only to see him in a frozen state.

I thought so, he thought. As that theory states, this will always happen.

He stared at the sky, as well as Serah did. Cocoon was there a second ago; Cocoon disappeared.

Cocoon vanished right in from of my eyes, Serah thought. Why?

Noel is familiar with the event that's about to occur. A space-time monster is about to appear: Gogmagog. This will not be their first or last meeting after the battle. Gogmagog will surely return, he thought. But once this 'anomaly' is resolved, Cocoon will return.

He was certain about that. As he recalled, he and Serah would chase to said planet's location, only to be encountered by the Gogmagog.

That means that Cocoon _will_ return, as suggested by the Attractor Field Convergence Theory. Not now, but soon.

Destiny. Fate. Are they the same meaning? He did not know. He can't be in linearity anymore. He has to decide his own options; and not play by any "prophecies" or "time loops."

Break the loop and choose to make promises. He felt faint and remembered something.

_When prayers turn into promises, not even fate can stand in their way._

Who said that? he wondered. I don't remember this at all.

The fragment.

In this confounded world, the paradoxes created fragments of memories scattered in time. Noel never encountered this fragment. Above all, the voice sounded familiar, but he can't quite put his finger on it.

As the last hunter, he thought. I'll find the key. The key to an even brighter future. I promise. …That sounded a bit tacky…

"Serah, calm down. If you want Cocoon back, you'll have to take it back by fighting." He understood her feelings toward the surprise.

"Fight what?" she asked. A portal with a strip around it summoned a frightening monster. The monster resembled a Ghoul Cie'th, with zombie-like features. Objects that appear to look like nails were on its face, as if it was hammered on. Only half of the giant's face, torso, including one arm, only made though the portal.

Noel pulled out his weapons and Serah took Mog who immediately became her weapon. They took their battle stance against the monster and prepared to fight.

Transition. Battle commence.

First move. Noel spoke to Serah accordingly for tips. "Serah, this monster hits hard. You should change to a Sentinel when that happens; I'll do the same. Think of defending."

The monster growled. "Speaking of the devil," he continued. With its swipe, Noel cued the change.

Paradigm Shift: Twin Shields. The two Sentinels took minimum damage from the thing. In one second, both of them thought of the same thing.

Paradigm Shift: Slash and Burn.

In a matter of seconds, Serah was building up the fiend's stagger point, while Noel launched up in the air to physically attack above ground.

The teamwork of shooting elemental fire from Serah and the constant attacks from Noel worked quite well.

Until the monster growled, they switch back to Twin Shields and there was no problem at all—after that, the whole process repeated until the battle ended.

With the monster's last screech, it faded back to the foggy portal and disappeared.

Fragment discovered.

If Noel remembers correctly, then this fragment would serve a purpose to the Time Gate. He would not use it yet, but that would definitely be recommended to keep it for now.

Noel swiftly ran to the meteor with Serah left in the dust. "W-wait!" she exclaimed, tagging along.

The crashing site was filled with ashes and dust, looking like nothing compared to the live village. The place is different. The meteor emitted the space with hazy, orange lights with smog of dirt. Cocoon is still gone.

Serah looked at Noel, who gave permission for her to examine the foreign object. She looked around, noticing the difference of air and land. She spoke, "Hm? What is this scenery? Do you recognize it, Noel?"

He answered, "Yeah."

"Why can't I see Cocoon?" The sky is filled with what appears to be a vision. The vision has a wasteland filled with no life whatsoever. The dust and dead trees covered the whole landscape.

Noel looked at the frail girl. "This place is all mixed up with another world. Over there…that's the world I live in. In my world, Cocoon doesn't exist anymore. It has been that way since I was born." He turned around. "It's been three years in your time when Cocoon trembled under the force of Ragnarok, right?"

"Yeah," she nodded.

"I was always told that it happened seven hundred years ago. I grew up seven hundred years into the future." Noel walked towards the meteor.

Serah followed her eyes to him. "Then…you're from the future?" He turned his back over her and slowly touched the meteor.

"I'm the…last human." He felt hesitant trying to say those words. He is the last human of his time at 700AF. But, Serah and the others were gone at 500AF back there. He can assume that only he and Hope Esthiem survived the overflowing Chaos at that time.

He is the last human who went back in time.

No Serah. No Mog.

Maybe, he thought. I should tell the truth by now. About my time traveling, Lightning, and…Serah. He resolved his reason. "Serah, I—"

"Hey!" A shout from Gadot cutted off his sentence. Yuj and Maqui were following the man as well.

Noel released his hand from the meteor and glanced at Serah. Now's not the time, he thought. I need to tell her everything later; alone. He chose to talk about Lightning. "Serah, I'll guide you. Let's look for Lightning. I'm sure she wants to see you—!"

Gadot pulled on the man's shirt and yelled, "You fool...!"

"That's not possible!" Maqui added.

"Yeah, Lightning's no longer…" Yuj paused. Serah ran up to Gadot and softly clung on his shoulder. "Where's my sister?" She asked the future boy.

Right here. Noel swiftly grabbed her arm and held his against hers on the surface of the meteorite. Despite wearing gloves, Serah could _feel_ the meteor; not just the rough and ragged meteor. She felt some sort of magic, not the one she used during battle.

I can't describe this feeling…she thought. Light sprouted out from her hand and reacted to the meteor, making the inanimate object shine in bright golden light. Like snow, the crystals that were jagged around melted away to reveal the familiar object—

—to Noel, however. This Serah knows nothing.

"What's this…?" Serah backed out, looking majestically at the transformed object. There were patterns of roots that seem to emerge from the ground. The roots were covering and orb-filled light, with occupied rings spinning around like a globe. NORA knew nothing of the object, questioning its presence. "Wait, what's that?"

Noel would reply, "A Time Gate. The door towards time."

"…What?"

"Lightning's on the other side of the Gate," he responded. "In a place called 'Valhalla.'"

I just can't turn away, Serah thought. I know that there is an answer to that feeling I have recently, as if something's not right.

Noel stared at the awe-struck audience. "I…suppose that there should be explaining to do." The whole group of NORA nodded.

Serah's eyes were filled with confidence. Noel may be from a destroyed future, but why does he have these kind of information? Sis, did you meet him somewhere?

I want to go the other side of the Gate, she decided. I want to find you, Lightning.

* * *

><p>Hello readers; I know you miss me (not really). Made some parts up because I just realized that I was simply retelling the plot! Don't worry, after a few chapters, I'll start off from scratch! The real story begins. Also, I might be on hiatus again, since the game's getting closer to the release date, allowing me to play-but unfortunately, I have to study for midterms;;; which means more delay.<p>

I'm currently writing other stories/one-shots, but I don't plan on abandoning this story, so stay tune.

-NazoLuk3


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